“The program overview spells out the theme, scope and learning outcome for each of the three seminars. The program is cumulative: understand the dynamics of settlement changes; ‘design with nature’ to achieve water sustainability; and commit to the regional team approach,” states Kim Stephens.

“We would like to shift the paradigm from boundaries to areas of commonality. The desired outcomes will include inter-departmental collaboration, inter-municipal sharing, and regional alignment. A key message is to view ‘planning’ not as land-zoning function but as a multi-faceted and iterative process that embraces the concept of truly integrated water-centric planning,” states Derek Richmond.

“The phrase water for life and livelihoods was ‘borrowed’ from work done in the United Kingdom. It conveys the fundamental principles of sustainability of natural systems in their own right and in relation to the health and wellbeing of people who benefit from the use of water for basic life needs and economic activity. The settlement in balance with ecology principle is an extension of water for life and livelihoods,” states Tim Pringle.

“For change to really occur, practices that until now have been viewed as the exception must become the norm moving forward. We have to build regulatory models and develop models of practice and expertise to support The New Business As Usual”, stated Dale Wall.

“The one market way-of-thinking resonated with those who participated in Seminar #1,” observes Geoff Garbutt. “It makes sense that mid-Island communities have choices. Knowing this, it means we can establish expectations as to what we want and what we will accept from developers.”

“Lessons learned by the Regional District of Nanaimo and Metro Vancouver in undertaking bold water-centric planning initiatives will be shared. A desired outcome is that participants will understand WHAT alignment of regional processes with local actions looks like,” stated Marc Rutten.

“Stories provide a focus. Our vision is that everyone will learn from the sharing of stories. The members of the Comox Valley team will report out on their efforts to date and we will see where the conversation goes. We are also encouraging participants from beyond the Comox Valley to tell their stories,” states Kim Stephens.

“Seminar #2 had an inter-regional focus, with the goal of sharing and learning from stories about bold water-centric planning initiatives on both sides of the Georgia Basin. The session introduced a Water OUT = Water IN framework for achieving water sustainability; and coupled this with a design with nature approach to climate change adaptation,” reports Derek Richmond.